Orbital mechanics of formation flying includes a free flying sparse aperture array. This free flying sparse aperture array includes independent sub-satellites that orbit around a central host spacecraft at nearly constant range to provide an almost constant geometrical configuration with respect to the central host spacecraft. The sub-satellites have similar, but different eccentricities and orbit inclinations, depending on how far the sub-satellites are from the central host spacecraft. While this approach enables almost constant range between the sub-satellites and the central host spacecraft, the approach requires multiple station-keeping burns per orbit to maintain cluster formation against the “J2” effects of Earth's gravity and other perturbing forces such as Sun-moon attractions and atmospheric drag. If the constant range restriction is relaxed, the differences in inclination may be eliminated, thus potentially reducing the station-keeping requirements. This will significantly reduce propellant usage.
Thus, an alternative approach to deploy and control sub-satellites may be beneficial.